Joy
Part 3 of the series
“Stairway to Heaven”
Previous posts are
published on this blog.
Joy. As you
reflect on this fruit of the vine, a startling question may begin to brew in
your consciousness. Did I not know even joy before my salvation? Certainly you have experienced a feeling of
happiness, but did this feeling subside and disappear when the next downturn in
your life occurred?
Joy,
like love, is a fruit of the Vine, an attribute of Christ, the True Vine living
in you.15 You are a branch of the Vine, grafted into His Holy
lineage, the True Vine of Life.
And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their
children will also be holy. For if the
roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.
But some of these
branches from Abraham’s tree, some of the Jews, have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who are branches from a
wild olive tree, were grafted in. So now
you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children,
sharing in God’s rich nourishment of his special olive tree. But you must be careful not to brag about
being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. Remember, you are just a branch, not the
root.16
Joy
given to you by God is sure and true and withstands the tests, trials, and
challenges of life. God’s joy is a
virtue—a beneficial quality or power17—of God, power that pulls you through the rough stuff in life, a
steady fullness of His grace, provided by Christ who, upon accepting Him as
your Savior, made His home in you.18
All those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them and we will come to
them and live with them.19
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit.20
a
Praise
to Our Father for the words He has given me. ~Jeff
Cambridge
Written
June 10, 2004
Copyright
© 2004, 2005, 2016 by Jeff Cambridge, Stellar Rhema Ministry
Footnotes
All
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from The Holy Bible, New
King James Version, copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.,
Publishers.
Verses
marked NLT are Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living
Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Verses
marked NIV are Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International
Bible Society. Used by permission of
International Bible Society. “NIV” and
“New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States
Patent and Trademark office by International Bible Society.
Stairway to Heaven - 4
15.
John 15:1,11,
Galatians 2:20
16.
Romans 11:16-24 NLT
17.
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary,
Copyright © 1984 by Merriam-Webster Inc., virtue.
18.
John 14:23; 16:22,24; 17:13; Romans 15:13; 2
Corinthians 8:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; James 1:2
19.
John 14:23 NLT
20.
Romans 15:13 NIV
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